Albtraum
by Amidephrine
Summary: He stopped himself from running his mouth any further when his eyes fell upon a young boy. The child was still dressed in flannel pyjamas, barefoot on a hardwood floor. His blonde hair was a mess atop his head, while eyes that echoed the sky stared into the floor with a guilty look about them. He clutched a pillow about half his size tightly to his chest. "...Bruder?"


Something stirred Prussia awake, his senses kicking into high alert within seconds of consciousness.

Even before he'd opened his eyes, he was ready to spring into action at the drop of a hat. Every muscle was tense and waiting, though he maintained the illusion of sleep as his mind began subtly investigating what had caused this reaction.

The instinct itself was something he'd picked up from centuries of fighting. Many a time a brave and foolish soldier had tried to do away with the Nation while he slept, and Prussia had conditioned himself to awaken upon the arrival of a potential threat. When his mind – conscious or otherwise – realized that he was not alone, it prepared him for the worst.

Even though the Napoleonic wars had finally come to a close, Prussia would never quite be able to just turn the instinct completely off.

Prussia listened first, hearing an uncertain shuffle of feet and the rustling of fabric despite a draftless room. He didn't smell the musk of earth, metal or blood that soldiers tended to carry on their person, so he allowed part of him to relax. Someone was in his room, waiting and watching, but it didn't seem to be a soldier.

He began to think that perhaps it was one of his human servants with news to report but lacking the spine to awaken their master. Prussia had a history of being in a foul mood when his slumber was disturbed. He couldn't yet decide if this was one of those times.

Furrowing his brow and without opening his eyes, he allowed some irritation to carry into his voice when he spoke.

"What do you want?"

The intruder did not answer, but he heard the intruder take a step – away, from the sound of it. There was the rustle of fabric again, but no response otherwise. Someone had a lot of nerve to ignore the awesome Prussia when he made a demand.

He sat up suddenly, turning towards the source of the sounds and speaking again, louder.

"I asked you a question, _verdam-"_

He stopped himself when his eyes fell upon a young boy. The child was still dressed in flannel pyjamas, barefoot on a hardwood floor. His blonde hair was a mess atop his head, while eyes that echoed the sky stared into the floor with a guilty look to them. He clutched a pillow about half his size tightly to his chest. Physically, he couldn't have been much older than eight, but Prussia knew better.

"_Bruder..._" the child whispered, sounding guilty and afraid.

Suddenly Prussia – no, Gilbert now – felt bad for reacting the way he did. He ran a hand through his hair and let out a sigh of frustration directed entirely at himself. So conditioned was he to war that he often forgot he was also supposed to be being a big brother.

"_Entschuldigung kleiner Krieger,_" Gilbert scooted to the side of his bed and patted the space he'd freed, trying to repair the damage he'd done. "Come sit with me, and tell your awesome big _Bruder_ what's wrong."

The boy shuffled uncertainly where he stood, stealing a look to the door as if he considered leaving. His hesitation was short lived, for within the minute he was quietly crossing the room and hoisting himself up onto the bed with the elder German.

The child sat there miserably in silence at first. He hugged his pillow tightly and cast a sidelong look to Gilbert.

"Well?" the elder brother prompted, trying his very best not to sound impatient.

"_Albtraum..."_

"Ah," Gilbert puffed out his cheeks and nodded, "those are pretty troubling."

The little blonde grunted in agreement and hid the lower half of his face behind the plush of his pillow. His eyes looked troubled and were glazed with the beginnings of tears.

"Tell me, what was this nightmare about?"

The younger of the two squeezed his eyes shut and drew in a long breath. When he'd collected himself and had banished the threat of tears, he let it all out in a steady sigh.

"I-I'm not sure," his voice was hushed, "I don't remember all of it."

"Well, what do you remember?"

"A girl," he said firmly. The pause that followed gave Gilbert more time to react than what was probably best, for the mischievous nation had time to grin and poke fun at his young charge's uncertainty.

"They are also pretty troubling," he crowed, "was she cute?"

Blue eyes met red, the former of the two did not share the glint of amusement found in the latter. He answered honestly.

"I do not remember. She was in a dress. A green dress."

Bobbing his head as he listened, Gilbert settled for grunting now and again in confirmation as he let the little German speak.

"She was on fire."

This stopped the nod of Prussia's head, but his expression did not change.

"She was...burning up and screaming things...something at me, but I couldn't understand her. Then there were soldiers – so many soldiers. They were marching. Wading...wading through blood...and there was so much fire."

Gilbert noticed the boy's cracking mask. The tears he'd so stubbornly tried to swallow now welled up in his eyes again. His entire body was tense and his pillow could be held no closer. His lower lip trembled.

"There were noises...swords and screaming and loud bangs...it smelled like burning..."

"Luddy..." Gilbert allowed the pet name to slip into the dark, and the boy hiccoughed in response. He shook now, though he was doing his very best to hide it.

"And the girl...she kept screaming in the middle of it all...looking right at me and crying and yelling like she needed me to understand and...I saw...I saw her...I watched..."

The boy couldn't seem to summon the words to describe what his mind's eye had witnessed. So, mindful of his little brother's stubborn pride, Gilbert threw his arm around the boy and pulled him close. Otherwise he would sit there and shake and cry, refusing to seek out the comfort he wanted – afraid of appearing weak or needy to his (awesome) older brother.

Given the permission to crumble, the boy sobbed freely. He released the pillow he clung to and instead wrapped his arms around Prussia's torso, his face buried in the man's flank.

"I was so scared," the child breathed. Had Gilbert not been listening for his voice, he would've missed the tiny confession completely.

"Shhh," the elder soothed. He brought his other arm around told hold the little one close, pressing a comforting kiss to the top of the child's head. He surprised himself at just how natural the reflex was. "It's okay, Luddy. You're alright now."

Gilbert held the little blonde close while he cried himself out, ever aware of how tightly he clung for comfort. Despite the less-than-favourable circumstances, the albino felt himself smiling against the boy's hair.

Admittedly, he was glad for this moment.

Since living under Prussia's care, the little German had been mindful of his emotions. His happiness was subdued while his sadness or pain went stubbornly ignored. He thought before he spoke and kept himself composed at all costs. It was just the way he was and he'd been like that for as long as Prussia could remember, but it made it easy to sometimes forget he was still only a child.

This moment was a reminder of both Ludwig's innocence and Gilbert's lacking emotional support thus far. Prussia was often too busy to worry about the child's deeper emotions, and given how the boy behaved it was all too easy to let him sort them through on his own. This was a mistake.

Despite his many years and the maturity he carried himself with through most of the day, Ludwig was very obviously still growing - still young. It was times like these that Gilbert was reminded of just how much effort went in to raising a child – and then how much _more_ it took to nourish a nation.

"Gil-" the blonde was trying to get a handle on his sobbing to speak, "Gil-" He took a breath, swallowed, and then pulled away. "_Bruder._"

"Hmm?"

"Am I weak?"

Prussia laughed and drew the boy into a different kind of embrace – crushing and teasing and affectionate all the same. The boy squirmed in the hold, and went still when Gilbert pulled him away and kissed his forehead with a grand smile.

"Far from it, _kleiner krieger_!" The albino ruffled Ludwig's hair. "You are the strongest little nation I know. And let's face it, with a B_ruder_ as awesome as the one you've got, how can you not be?"

At this, Ludwig managed to smile. It was a small, fleeting thing – as most of the child's smiles had the tendency to be – but it was a smile nevertheless and Gilbert treasured it all the same.

"_Wirklich, Bruder?_ You truly think so?"

"I really do, Ludwig."

The boy looked relieved.

"And one day, the whole world will know it. You and your big brother will be the most awesome pair in all history."

The child nodded, wiped at his eyes with the back of his wrists, then did his best to even out his breathing.

"Hey," Gilbert pulled back his little brother's bangs to inspect the boy's forehead in the dark. He could just barely see a slight discolouration: the remnants of what had once been a nasty bruise. "How's your head feeling?"

"Fuzzy, still," said Ludwig, rallying the last of his composure to restore his emotionally careful self. "But better, _danke._"

"Why didn't you wake me up right away? Why sneak in?"

"I wasn't sure it was okay for me to interrupt...I didn't want to trouble you." The boy cast his eyes to the side and spoke his next words in a quieter tone. "I was working up the courage to act when you woke up. I was torn between handling this alone and asking for your support."

The Prussian smiled and ruffled the child's hair a second time.

"Luddy, don't do that to yourself. I'm your brother, remember? It's my job as the big brother to support you."

"I-I'll try to remember that..."

Then fell a silence that made even Gilbert uncomfortable. The boy stared ahead, the slight darkness of his cheeks in the night a sign that he was blushing in the quiet. This would normally be the time Ludwig dismissed himself – understanding the conversation was through and that his involvement had come to an end. This time, however, he lingered. He looked sheepish and embarrassed, but had no voice to explain why.

Gilbert looked to the door in thought, then back to the pillow in the boy's lap. After another few seconds studying his emotionally stifled brother, he understood.

"Wanna sleep over here tonight, _Brüderchen?"_

Though it was hard to be sure in the dark, the Prussian could swear he saw Ludwig's blush intensify before he gave a small nod and spoke quietly.

"I-if it's not a bother to-"

"Oh shut up with the formality, Luddy!"

Gilbert threw his arm over the child and pulled him down. He kicked off his blankets only to throw them over the littler German, absently checking to make sure he was covered and warm. The boy opened his mouth to speak, only to be abruptly shushed by his elder who'd heard quite enough doubts and uncertain questions for one night.

"Go to sleep, _kleiner Krieger. _We can resume being awesome in the morning."

The boy shuffled awkwardly, looking as if he wanted to say more – but he wisely stilled his tongue and settled for giving a small nod. Gilbert grinned at him.

"_Guter Junge."_

The albino turned away and settled down with a long sigh, shutting his eyes and feeling immensely pleased with himself. He _was_ an awesome big brother. Ignoring his rough start, he handled that whole situation like a champ.

_Take that, Austria! I can be a good role model!_

He grinned to himself as he recalled Austria's complaints and warnings against taking in a charge. He worried for any child in _"that psycho's"_ care. He was content to fall asleep to those memories (and how _wrong_ they were and how _awesome_ he'd acted!), until they were silenced by a quiet voice behind him.

"_Danke, Bruder, und gute Nacht. Ich liebe dich."_

Prussia's grin was humbled and he cast a brief look over his shoulder. The boy's expression was relaxed, his breathing soft and quiet – his words mumbled in the haze of pre-sleep. Gilbert rolled over and the boy didn't stir, his only reaction a soft snore.

Gilbert's smile faded as he watched the child sleep. It was the only time Ludwig's face appeared completely at ease. He felt a warmth in his chest, one that gave birth to a kind smile Gilbert was sure looked alien on his face. Screw proving Austria wrong, brotherhood had other perks. Slowly, as not to disturb him, the albino reached forward to pet the boy's hair affectionately.

"_Gute Nacht, Brüderchen, ich liebe dich auch."_

* * *

**Fun fact, I do not speak German!**

**for those in the same boat:**

_Entschuldigung, kleiner krieger -** sorry, little warrior  
**__Albtraum - **nightmare  
**__wirklich - **really  
**__Brüderchen - **little brother  
**Guter Junge - **good boy**_

**The rest I'm sure you can figure out, because you're all smart cookies - I know it.**

**Continuing on with the butchering of lovely characters: this is just a short BRUDER story because I like brothers and children are fun to write. I would be over the moon if you lovely people could leave me a few words, whether they be supportive, critical or totally nonsensical, I am all ears. Still relatively new to this fandom, so I need all the help I can get. If I'm off, or OOC, please tell me. **

**I look forward to hearing from you my lovelies.**

**Thank you for reading, and thank you in advance for your review.**

**Ta~**

**Ami.**

**P.S**

**I fixed my German! (sorry for goofing in the first place, Germans! Love you!)**


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